Seasoned director Lee Kwok Lap combines the stories of Ming Dynasty female physician Tan Yunxian & Empress Hang in the 2016 period epic series The Imperial Doctress. Tangren Medias go-to actress Cecilia Liu takes the leading role of a bright young woman who would defy conventional social values & overcome great hardships to become the first female court physician. Wallace Huo co-stars as Emperor Yingzong & Huang Xuan as his younger brother Emperor Jingtai, both of whom form close relationships with the heroine.
Tan Yunxian (Cecilia Liu) was born into a medical family, but it was also medicine that brought tragedy & downfall to her family years ago. Deeply interested in medicine, she learns medical knowledge covertly from her grandmother despite her fathers fierce disapproval. Though women are prohibited from becoming doctors, Yunxian ignores social protocol of the time & uses her skills to help those in need. In her adventures, she befriends the Emperor (Wallace Huo) by chance & falls in love with his younger brother Qi Yu (Huang Xuan). Her medical talents bring her into the palace where she proves the naysayers wrong & forges ahead bravely with her dream of becoming a physician. But the power struggles of the court will throw myriad obstacles her way & gradually change her relationships with the brothers.